#VicVotes News Updates

Friends of the Earth and the local Ararat Greenhouse Action Group have criticised Liberal MP for Ripon Louise Staley's contradictory position on climate change.

When Ms Staley was asked about whether she accepts climate change science and her party's policy at the Victorian Farmers Federation's candidates forum in late October, Ms Staley stated:

"Yes I do" accept the science of climate change before adding, "I do not support a Victorian renewable energy target. We will abolish that if we come into government."

Friends of the Earth's climate change spokesperson Leigh Ewbank said Louise Staley's acceptance of climate science was welcome, yet said she must be judged on her track record and Liberal party's platform.

"Saying you accept the science of climate change is one thing, yet the true test of Louise Staley's commitment is her voting record and party's platform," said Leigh Ewbank.

Community members are getting organised and making sure political candidates are engaging with the challenge of climate change in the lead up to the Victorian state election. Melissa Abel, a community climate champion from Bendigo, reports on a recent candidates forum in her region:

In the lead up to the state election at the end of next month, our Australian Conservation Foundation community group in Bendigo have been running a series of “Politics in the Pub” events with our local politicians and candidates, focusing on one party at a time. Bendigo is covered by two state electorates – Bendigo East and Bendigo West, and so we've at times had candidates from both. So far we've had Labor, the Greens and the Liberals.

We are yet to lock in a date with the Nationals, but they – perhaps surprisingly, given the topic of climate change – appear keen so far. As a side note, I asked our Nationals candidate at a different forum why they want to scrap Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) and was told that they don't want to see a “piecemeal, state-by-state” approach to energy policy. Call me cycnical, but to me that looks like an attempt to tear down the states that are actually attempting to do something about climate change...

Victoria will go to the polls in a month and the Liberal National Party opposition, led by Matthew Guy, has failed to release a comprehensive climate change policy.

Pressure is mounting on Matthew Guy to show he takes climate change seriously.

Activists in detective costumes have staged actions to search for Matthew Guy’s missing climate policy. In the blue-ribbon seats of Hawthorn and Kew, the Lighter Footprints community group is organising a town hall meeting (featuring Oliver Yates) on the need for climate action.

And then there’s the Wentworth by-election result where the Liberal party suffered a record swing against it.

While Wentworth voters were clearly upset at the Federal Coalition’s leadership turmoil and had a strong independent candidate to vote for, exit polling commissioned by the Australia Institute found that the Liberal party’s primary vote collapsed as a result of inaction on climate change and support for coal.

The same dynamic could play out in Victoria. The opposition’s failure to engage with climate change leaves it exposed.

After an absolutely full-on week for the Act On Climate team, we kick back and talk about the week's events in a more laid-back style. Halfway through the series, and the election run-up, and the nature of the campaign is starting to change. We wrap up the big events and actions AoC had planned, and executed, and note that the action now pivots to a more nimble, reactive role. Stay tuned for a lot of updates, but now, they'll be surprises!

The Victorian election is a little over a month away and the campaign is heating up.

While climate change is an under-reported issue at the state level, one place where it could have electoral impact is the regional seat of Macedon where leadership on renewable energy and pioneering efforts to cut emissions are visible to the community.

The release of the IPCC's Special Report on the impacts of 1.5C of global warming has piqued the public's awareness of what's at stake if governments fail to rein in polluting oil, gas, and coal companies and drive emissions cuts across the whole economy.

The Federal Coalition's comprehensive failure to address the issue has left many in the community frustrated and angry—particularly when climate impacts such as drought and winter bushfires are becoming more and more obvious.

With environmental organisations calling for greater leadership at the state level and communities spearheading local efforts, political parties and their candidates are expected to demonstrate climate literacy, outline their plans to cut emissions, and help communities cope with the climate impacts that are now locked in (and set to get worse).

What role might climate change play in the upcoming state election? Peter Gardner, a community climate champion from East Gippsland, explores. The following articleoriginally publishedat Peter's blog.

Melbourne University energy hub senior adviser Simon Holmes à Court has been asking politicians and would be politicians a simple question on climate change. Some time ago he asked Liberal candidate in the Mayo by-election Georgina Downer “can you please let us know whether you accept the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming?” More recently he has asked the same question of the Liberal candidate in the Wentworth by-election David Sharma, with, so far, no response. Simon has then publicised the response or non-response to his followers on twitter.

Following Simon’s example I decided to ask the same question to candidates in the five Gippsland electorates starting with Gippsland East. Although still 50 days from the election it soon became obvious that this was an exceedingly difficult task and that I should concentrate on Gippsland East. So far I have asked the question of the five known candidates in the electorate and all have responded.

What role might climate change impacts play in the upcoming state election? Peter Gardner, a community climate champion from East Gippsland explores. The following articleoriginally publishedat Peter's blog.

I have briefly examined the electoral prospects across Gippsland for climate candidates here. I concluded that given the right conditions all of the seats are vulnerable to strong candidates – Independents in the south and east, Labor in the west with Morwell ‘up for grabs’. Whilst the south and the east are probably safe for the Nationals conditions and the climate may go against them.